Bernard Schoenburg: State trade official spends a lot of money on travel

Bernard Schoenburg

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMFeb 26, 2009 at 8:31 PM

The managing director of Illinois’ Office of Trade and Investment, a part of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, has spent quite a bit of state money on travel.

The managing director of Illinois’ Office of Trade and Investment, a part of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, has spent quite a bit of state money on travel.

Rajinder Bedi, 56, of Chicago, who makes about $111,700 annually, billed the state more than $157,000 for travel from April 2005 to late 2008, including more than $140,000 for foreign trips. Of those foreign trips, six were exclusively or in part to India, and bills on those trips totaled more than $47,000. He was on another trip to India this week, DCEO spokeswoman Ashley Cross said.

Bedi’s name has occasionally been in the news. In early 2007, the Chicago Sun-Times identified him as having been a leading fundraiser for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the Indian-American community. Bedi also raised at least $100,000 as a vice-chair of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, the newspaper said.

Shortly after the Dec. 9 arrest of Blagojevich by federal authorities who accused Blagojevich of trying to sell the former U.S. Senate seat of President Barack Obama, the Chicago Tribune reported that Bedi told those attending an Oct. 31 fundraising luncheon for Blagojevich that the effort was aimed at supporting the appointment of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, to the seat.

The Tribune said Bedi had been a “key fundraiser” for Blagojevich and that Blagojevich had referred to Bedi, who wears a turban, as “my Sikh warrior.”

Blagojevich and Jackson have both denied participating in any improper actions surrounding the Senate seat.

Bedi is described in a one-page bio from mid-2007 as a business and civic leader in the Indian community in Illinois and nationally. He also was described as an entrepreneur who had started and run a diverse portfolio of businesses.

His statement of economic interest filed with the secretary of state’s office shows he still is involved with or makes money from the Indian Reporter newspaper, Extra Wide Sock Co., and Design Group, a consulting, advertising and marketing firm. All are at the same address on Chicago’s north side.

Bedi has taken more than 30 state trips to, among other destinations, Canada, Singapore, Poland, Israel, South Africa, Spain, Ecuador, Ireland and Thailand.

A check of records from the comptroller’s office shows the most expensive trip he took was to India and Germany from Nov. 6-14, 2006. That bill came to $10,184. Documents show Bedi attended a conference in Mumbai, where he sought to promote sale of chemical products made in Illinois, and a medical-oriented trade show in Dusseldorf.

On more than one occasion as a candidate and governor, Blagojevich spoke of traveling to India to promote trade, but never made such a trip during his six years in office.

Cross, the DCEO spokeswoman, said Bedi leads efforts to promote Illinois trade with other countries, including their companies investing in the state, and manages a staff of 36 in 12 offices around the world, including Chicago and Springfield. Bedi’s travels help manage staff, promote exports and showcase Illinois as a place in which to bring business, she said.

She said Bedi’s office “helped secure new direct foreign investments in Illinois of over $255 million in 2007 alone.” Illinois has moved from seventh to fifth among states in exports, and the state’s exports of goods and services totaled $48.73 billion in 2007.

“International travel is carefully planned to make the most of each trip and is conducted according to the state’s travel polices,” Cross said.

Bedi joined the state in 2003 as director of emerging markets, Cross said.

Bedi’s predecessor in the managing director’s job was Ross Harano, who had worked for the state from mid-2003 to mid-2005. In that time, his total travel reimbursement was about $6,200, mostly within Illinois. He did travel to England and Germany in 2004, but the state paid just $510 for that trip, as the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce paid most costs. About $1,050 was spent on another trip that year, which Harano recalls was a biotechnology conference in San Francisco.

Harano said he focused on having his staff members do the international traveling, because they were the ones organizing meetings and conferences. There also was professional staff already in place at DCEO offices in Illinois offices in other countries.

Harano, 66, of Chicago, was paid about $101,000 annually by the state. He now is president of the board of the Chicago-based Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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